# Psychological and cognitive-emotional moderators of suicidal ideation and self-harm in young adults

## TL;DR

This study explores how psychological factors like mindfulness and self-compassion influence suicide risk in young adults.

## Contribution

The study identifies self-compassion and mindfulness as potential protective factors against suicide risk in young adults.

## Key findings

- Lower self-compassion and weaker implicit associations with death/suicide are linked to self-harm.
- Mindfulness shows a trend in reducing entrapment and moderating the link between entrapment and suicidal ideation.
- Self-compassion and implicit associations do not moderate the relationship between entrapment and suicidal ideation.

## Abstract

The risk for suicide has been conceptualized as a continuum from dysfunctional psychological and cognitive states to suicidal thoughts and behaviour. Little is known about risk and protective factors along the continuum. In the current study, we assessed ninety-four university students (36 individuals indicated suicidal ideation and 33 reported self-harm) for suicidality, depression, entrapment, defeat, hopelessness, mindfulness, self-compassion, and implicit associations with death/suicide. We used regression models and moderation analyses to test if mindfulness, self-compassion, and implicit association with death/suicide related to suicidal ideation, self-harm, entrapment, or moderated the hypothesized continuum from entrapment to suicidal ideation and from entrapment to self-harm. Analyses were corrected for the severity of depressive symptomatology. Results indicated that lower self-compassion and weaker implicit associations with death/suicide were statistically associated with self-harm, but not suicidal ideation. Mindfulness is trend-wise associated with entrapment and moderated the relation between entrapment and suicidal ideation. Self-compassion nor implicit associations with death/suicide moderated the relation between entrapment and suicidal ideation. Hence, lower self-compassion and weaker implicit associations with death/suicide seem directly related to suicide risk behaviour, whereas mindfulness appears to negatively (i.e., suggestive of a protective role) relate to psychological risk-states earlier in the continuum. Therefore, self-compassion and mindfulness seem promising prevention targets for suicide risk in young adults.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-026-37127-4.